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sweet home chi….COLORADO!!

Howdy, friends. I’m feeling a little guilty that I was on quite a little blog roll there for a bit but have slacked as of late. It’s not for lack of things to say, but rather we are just in the swing of summer and there has been precious little time to write. But to sum up the last month or so in O’Malley Land – we are never leaving Colorado. Between a weekend getaway to NYC and a trip back to Chicago to see friends and family this past week, we are unified in our commitment to our beloved Colorful Colorado. To be clear, I still hold a special place in my heart for the bitch-slap that is Manhattan, not to mention the easy access to Louboutin. And to be even more clear, my trip to Chitown couldn’t have been more successful. With few exceptions, I was able to see and catch up with every friend I’ve ever made there, plus meet some children and husbands (and even a few in-laws!) of those friends I’d never met before, plus see my own in-laws, plus find time for a massage, plus manage to work in a decade-overdue trip to a karaoke bar. I slept on two different couches, two different beds and even got to cuddle with my favorite dog on the planet (including my own), Miss Bentley “Beebop” Wholey-Anderson. I went bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister-in-law. I had Eggs Benedict at Feast. I got to see my dear, gorgeous friend Angie in the last trimester with her first baby (aka the basketball she was trying to smuggle under her dress). What more is there?

Somehow the last few weeks have offered some real and final closure on that phase of my life. I will of course treasure the memories that spanned the course of my 13-year relationship with what I still believe to be the world’s most beautiful skyline, chock full of the world’s most incredible restaurants, but Chitown and I are going our separate ways now. No more one-night stands, we are parting gracefully. Certainly there will be events that come up that will require us traveling back, but it will be different somehow. The connection we once felt is lost. And yet…

Our connection to Colorado is just heating up. I am energized in a way every day here I’m not sure any other destination could ever compete with. It’s incredible to think about how many different things had to happen just exactly the way they did in order for me to have this life here and I am forever grateful to all of them. Colorado has made me a kinder, more thoughtful, more patient and healthier person. My Rocky Mountain High has only just begun!